Gerald ""Gerry"" Schlegel

Gerald John Schlegel died Monday August 6, 2018 at the Collier Hospice Center in Wheat Ridge, Colorado.

Born in the small town of Maynard, Iowa on May 8, 1928, he was the second eldest son of Aaron and Mathilda Schlegel. He had one older brother, Aaron and one older sister, Arlene (Riasonovsky) as well as one younger sister, Eleanor (Behlke). His father was an auto mechanic and his mother was a typical house wife. His older brother would hunt and set animal traps while Gerald and his sisters would grow potatoes and other vegetables to help provide food for the family. He also earned money by delivering newspapers together with his childhood best friend, Jack Thiele. As he grew older, Jack Thiele's father taught him how to use his hands to construct houses and other relatively small structures. He eventually began working construction for the Whittenbaugh family located in a small community near Maynard. It was that connection and type of work that would lead him to travel to Sterling, Colorado and eventually meet his future wife, Lois Jean Whittenbaugh.

Shortly after graduating from high school in 1945, he joined the Army as a paratrooper and was eventually stationed in northern Japan. Once in Japan, the Army posted a notice that all enlisted men could take a test and based on the results, could have a desk job doing paperwork in the office. Gerald thought to himself that he would prefer to do that instead of jumping out of planes. So he took the test and passed with flying colors. He remained in Japan doing paperwork at that location until the end of his enlistment and then actually wrote his own discharge papers. With the money he received from the GI bill, he went to Iowa State University in Ames Iowa and achieved a bachelor of science degree in civil engineering. However before he received his degree, he had already traveled to Sterling Colorado and met his future wife Lois. So on December 24, 1950, at the age of 22, he married his beloved bride and continued to live in Ames Iowa until he finished his schooling and graduated in 1951. Upon graduation, they lived and worked in Omaha, Nebraska for a period of time before returning to Sterling, Colorado. Within two years a daughter, Charlene, was born.

With the baby in tow, he and Lois moved to Colorado Springs, where he entered the workforce as a structural engineer. It was there that son, Douglas was born. In order to further his knowledge of engineering, he continued to take graduate classes through the University of Colorado. Although he gained enough knowledge to obtain a masters degree, he did not see the value of spending any more time or money to achieve that. He had already been approached by one of his college professors, Bob Koons, to join him and together create a company where Gerald would do all the calculations and design work while Bob would go to various architects and drum up more business. However this partnership never materialized.

In 1961 he decided to move the family to the Denver area and settled in Arvada. However, 5 years later, he accepted a job in Corpus Christi, Texas where he was put in charge of overseeing all the engineering personnel for a national post-tensioning company that was providing design and material across the country. However, Lois hated the climate as well as the large bugs that are associated with hot, humid climate and said she was returning to Colorado with the kids. To him, a good marriage was far more important to him that the work he was doing. When he returned to Arvada, he set up his own consulting business, built a beautiful home and had his office in the basement of the house. He continued to work from that location for another 50 years and never officially retired.

He is preceded in death by his parents, wife Lois, brother Aaron Schlegel and youngest sister Eleanor Behlke, two brother-in-laws, Nicholis Riasonovsky and Frank Behlke.

He is survived by:

• His eldest sister, Arlene Riasonovsky;
• Sister-in-law, Jean Schlegel;
• His children and spouses, Charlene and Royal Heins, Fraser, CO and Doug Schlegel, Arvada, CO;
• Grandchildren and spouses, Richard and Dani Heins, San Jose, CA and Christina and Kenny Goodman, Naples, FL;
• Great grandchildren, Emily Heins, San Jose, CA.

The family will receive visitors at Horan & McConaty Funeral Home located at 7577 W. 80^th Avenue, Arvada, CO 80003 on Friday, August 10, 2018 from 5 to 7 PM.

Funeral services will be held at 11 am on Saturday, August 11, 2018 at Risen Christ Lutheran Church, 14850 W. 72^nd Avenue, Arvada, CO 80007. Luncheon will be provided after the service. Committal will be on Tuesday, August 14, 2018 at 11:00 am at the Arvada Cemetery located at 5581 Independence Street, Arvada, CO 80002.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations be made to Risen Christ Lutheran Church in memory of Gerald.

Please share memories of Gerry and condolences with his family in the guestbook below.

Visitation: August 10, 2018 5:00 pm - 7:00 pm

Horan & McConaty - Northwest/Arvada
7577 W. 80th Ave.
Arvada, CO 80003

Funeral Service: August 11, 2018 11:00 am - 12:00 pm